UW-Stout Changes Stance On Professor's "Firefly" Poster

A University of Wisconsin-Stout professor will be able to hang his poster of "Firefly" Captain Malcolm "Mal" Reynolds a week after a debate over the cult television show character's language erupted into a national First Amendment issue for college campuses.

The University of Wisconsin-Stout said Tuesday it will allow a professor to hang the "Firefly" poster and another satirical poster about university administrators, both of which administrators took down last month because of concern that the messages in the posters promoted violence.

A national foundation took up the cause of theater professor James Miller and riled fans of the show to flood the university with emails last week.

In a message sent to the campus, University Chancellor Charles Sorenson defended the original decision to remove the posters, writing that officials did so "out of legitimate concern for the violent messages contained in each poster and the belief that the posters ran counter to our primary mission to provide a campus that is welcoming, safe and secure.